Vikings general manager Rick Spielman is like the guy from MnDOT who drives a big truck filled with tar. He has many holes to fill. One of the biggest is at middle linebacker.

The Vikings have done their due diligence on middle linebackers available in the three-day NFL draft that starts Thursday, April 25. They have the 23rd and 25th overall choices and could use one of those picks on a middle linebacker, though Spielman claims outside linebacker Erin Henderson could move to the middle.

Many mock drafts have the Vikings using one of those first-round picks on Notre Dame middle linebacker Manti Te'o, whose unimpressive performance in the national championship game against Alabama and involvement in a hoax related to a fake girlfriend have tainted his draft value.

I talked to Spielman about various scenarios related to the middle linebacker spot.

BS: Could Erin Henderson be as good or better at middle linebacker as he has been on the outside?

RS: We feel he has the flexibility to do both, that he can be as effective at middle linebacker as he can at (weak-side) linebacker.